On Friday, Shepeard Community Blood Center along with local business, KAMO, hosted a blood drive in honor of 6-month-old, Juliet Maddox.
Juliet’s dad, Marcus Maddox says, they live by one motto, “Just to take it literally every single day.”
6-month-old Juliet Maddox was originally admitted to Children’s Hospital of Georgia in October of 2021 and hasn’t left since. She was suffering from respiratory distress after she was born with a heart defect.
Juliet’s mother Krista says, “We’ve been waiting [for Juliet] to get stronger for surgery and [she] had a few medical complications in between but she’s on the road up now. She’s doing great.”
With blood shortages still ongoing in our area, Juliet had to receive RH-positive blood platelets when she actually needed RH-negative. “Our daughter had to receive blood that was not her blood type and every time she had to receive a vile of blood that wasn’t her blood type she had to receive a shot to keep her body from rejecting it,” Marcus said.
Juliet underwent surgery to fix her heart defect more than a week ago and hasn’t needed a blood transfusion since. Agencies like Shepeard Community Blood Center are still encouraging people to donate as often as every eight weeks. Shanee White, a recruiter from Shepeard Blood Center says, “People like Juliet who need blood on a regular basis–we need a supply always readily available for that.”
Juliet’s family says with her condition they have turned a negative situation into something positive. “The support of the community. To get behind us, its almost like a movement,” says Marcus Maddox.
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